The Pitchfork Readers Poll features your picks for the best (and worst) in the world of music, including your choices for Top Albums and Top Tracks, along with Most Underrated and Overrated Albums, Best New Artists, Best Musician Twitters, plus your answers to a number of either/or questions.

Our Show No Mercy columnist Brandon Stosuy and other Pitchfork contributors count down their favorite metal releases of the year, including records by Deafheaven, High on Fire, Prurient, Baroness, Bell Witch, Tribulation, Sannhet, and more.

World weary rap courtesy of Vince Staples and Future. Vulnerable folk from Joanna Newsom and Sufjan Stevens. Thundercat and Kamasi Washington’s astral musings. The welcomed comebacks of Dr. Dre and Sleater-Kinney. All of that and more makes up our Top 50 albums of the year.

In the latest edition of our This Is How We Do It podcast series, Jenn Pelly sits down with Deafheaven frontman George Clarke to discuss his theatrical performance style and what it means to relive your lowest moments onstage every night.

Since their 2013 album Sunbather brought black metal close to mainstream acceptance, purists have derided Deafheaven as frauds. With their follow-up due out soon, the California band would like to set the record straight. By Ian Cohen.

Details on 35 prospective records that are keeping our hopes up for music in 2015, from hip-hop heavyweights Kanye and Kendrick, to welcomed returns from Sleater-Kinney and the Wrens, along with many intriguing collaborations and debuts.